Pension professionals exempted from new rules

HMRC has agreed to exempt pension administration professionals from new requirements requiring ‘tax advisers’ who interact with HMRC on behalf of clients to register with HMRC and meet new minimum standards from 1 April.

It has acted after the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) made the case for an exemption.

Last year, the government published the proposals, but the SPP warned that they were so broad that pensions administration would have been within scope of the new requirements.

It made the case for an exemption but when draft legislation was published this summer, the Society said there was no exemption included for pensions administration.

SPP said it continued to make the case for an exemption by engaging with HMRC officials and responding to a further consultation and raising the issue in the press.

It said as a result the tax authorities have now confirmed that they have listened to the representations and consequently agreed to exempt pension administration professionals from the new requirements.

Officials are currently working through the specifics of the wording for an exemption in legislation.

SPP president Sophia Singleton said: “We have always believed that the government’s plans to compel those giving tax advice to register with HMRC is an improvement that could prove effective, proportionate, and reasonable in raising standards but equally that pension administrators are not tax advisers, are already regulated and so should not have been included in these plans.

“While we await the detail as to the final wording of the legislation, the fact that HMRC have listened to our arguments, and recognised the importance of an exemption, is great news for the pensions industry.

“It will ensure many pension professionals performing only administration duties will now be exempt and so avoids a further regulatory requirement.”